'Strange World' Disney's 2022 Animated Film

RobWDW1971

Well-Known Member
"Strange World has officially ended Disney Animation's CinemaScore ratings streak by scoring lower than any film in 31 years.

The market research firm CinemaScore, which polls theater audiences after seeing the movie, has revealed that Strange World received a B, making it the first ever Walt Disney Animation Studios film to score below an A- according to CinemaScore's metrics. CinemaScore began polling viewers of Disney Animation films in 1991, starting with Beauty and the Beast, which scored an A."
 

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
"Strange World has officially ended Disney Animation's CinemaScore ratings streak by scoring lower than any film in 31 years.

The market research firm CinemaScore, which polls theater audiences after seeing the movie, has revealed that Strange World received a B, making it the first ever Walt Disney Animation Studios film to score below an A- according to CinemaScore's metrics. CinemaScore began polling viewers of Disney Animation films in 1991, starting with Beauty and the Beast, which scored an A."

Wait a minute. The only thing separating Home on the Range from Beauty & the Beast is a minus sign? What kind of cockamamie rating system is this?
 

RobWDW1971

Well-Known Member
Disney really needs to find that manager of that one packed theater, apparently his local store marketing strategy is crushing it!

"Despite the continued riches of Wakanda flowing into Disney coffers, they will be poorer with their new animated film Strange World which is now looking at $19M-$21M over five days after a $5.2M Friday. Disney has been in this hole before with original animation with such duds as Home on the Range and Treasure Planet. The studio fully embraced a character being openly gay in the movie, however, that was hid from the film’s marketing. Those critics such as The Guardian‘s Cath Clarke are in line with the audience’s temperature of a B CinemaScore and 82% on PostTrak. “The clunky script feels like it’s been re-drafted and re-drafted to the point of incomprehension – blowing any chance of conveying a message. However well-meaning, it makes for a surprisingly dull watch,” writes Clarke."
 

MrPromey

Well-Known Member
So saw Strange World today. It was cute, nothing too earth shattering. The 'twist' was pretty obvious but man, did the film look incredible (especially in 3D - they really did a nice job of that). It's a solid film, but nothing outstanding. Then again, I thought the same of "Frozen II" so what do I know? (BTW the theater was 3/4 full)

Went with my son to see it last night and felt largely the same way (Except for your feelings on Frozen II ;) ). I think story-wise, it was stronger than Encanto but of course, it had no catchy songs.

Several of the "didn't see that coming" moments were pretty well broadcast in advance of their reveals - enough that my ten year old was predicting a lot of them but it was still a fun movie.

That said, there were a total of five of us in the theater for most of it - my son and I and a couple with their child.

After about an hour, a group of adults shuffled in - maybe five or six total - who stayed through the end but I have no idea what that was about since they missed the first 2/3 of the movie.

The movie was visually gorgeous which is something I've come to expect from both Disney and Pixar - for each new release to look better by leaps and bounds from what came before it.

In terms of story I can't say as an adult, that it was remarkable or that it was even anything outstanding for a Disney movie but compared to a lot of what goes in to theaters for kids in general, it felt like in quality, it would at least make the top half.

Which is why it's a true shame, Disney's doing what they're doing with it.

I think I know what they're up to, here and it's a shame.

Really don't think this movie deserves the bomb status it was apparently predestined to get before even being released.

... but this is the world we live in, for today, at least.
 

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
I typed this up earlier but didn’t post it as I really don’t get any pleasure out of raining on anyones parade. But is this what you re referring to?

You almost have to wonder if this is Disney hedging their bet with Lightyear and Strange World. We’ll make a couple inclusive movies but we re not going to necessarily market them appropriately and make sure they’re quality movies. If they take off great. If they don’t that’s fine too we can shake them off in 2023 with Wish for our 100th anniversary. Without having read anything about the movie I think it’s telling that they re choosing a fairy tale. I can almost guarantee you won’t find two women kissing or a Gay crush in Wish as they will be trying to cater to a wider demo and get some of middle America back on their side.

I realize I may be giving them too much credit and that it sounds ridiculous as they lost millions of dollars on these movies. I find myself doing that these days to make sense of their boneheaded decisions. Always wanting to give them the benefit of the doubt that there’s something we’re missing. I think I’m starting to see that they just don’t have any real vision and are wingin it on the daily.

Not matter how you look at its sad as entertainment isn’t being made with the primary purpose to entertain.
I think I know what they’re up to, here and it’s a shame
 
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Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
I think I know what they're up to, here and it's a shame.

Really don't think this movie deserves the bomb status it was apparently predestined to get before even being released.

... but this is the world we live in, for today, at least.
I get the impression you're right here, but the one thing that gives me pause when considering the reasons this film has ended up as such a bomb is that those who are going to see it don't seem to be rating it very highly, at least according to CinemaScore.

If it was poorly marketed but those who went to see the film loved it, that would be something. It doesn't really seem to be the case, though.
 

MrPromey

Well-Known Member
I typed this up earlier but didn’t post it as I really don’t get any pleasure out of raining on anyones parade. But is this what you re referring to?

You almost have to wonder if this is Disney hedging their bet with Lightyear and Strange World. We’ll make a couple inclusive movies but we re not going to necessarily market them appropriately and make sure they’re quality movies. If they take off great. If they don’t that’s fine too we can shake them off in 2023 with Wish for our 100th anniversary. Without having read anything about the movie I think it’s telling that they re choosing a fairy tale. I can almost guarantee you won’t find two women kissing or a Gay crush in Wish as they will be trying to cater to a wider demo and get some of middle America back on their side.

I realize I may be giving them too much credit and that it sounds ridiculous as they lost millions of dollars on these movies. I find myself doing that these days to make sense of their boneheaded decisions. Always wanting to give them the benefit of the doubt that there’s something we’re missing. I think I’m starting to see that they just don’t have any real vision and are wingin it on the daily.

I

I think they had high hopes for Lightyear. They may blame the two moms on why it didn't do well but I think it has to do with it being a crappy movie, with a thin in-world premises for existing that they barely even tried to present either in marketing or in the movie, itself.

As for the rest of it, I feel like you might be more right than wrong.
 

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
I think they had high hopes for Lightyear. They may blame the two moms on why it didn't do well but I think it has to do with it being a crappy movie, with a thin in-world premises for existing that they barely even tried to present either in marketing or in the movie, itself.

As for the rest of it, I feel like you might be more right than wrong.

Yeah they get to look like they tried in front of their employees etc. If the employee wants to stay employed they realize that Big Daddy needs to be profitable
 

MrPromey

Well-Known Member
I get the impression you're right here, but the one thing that gives me pause when considering the reasons this film has ended up as such a bomb is that those who are going to see it don't seem to be rating it very highly, at least according to CinemaScore.

If it was poorly marketed but those who went to see the film loved it, that would be something. It doesn't really seem to be the case, though.

Personally, I thought the story made more sense than Wakanda Forever.

Not to hate on Black Panter 2 - that movie had an impossible task - but it felt more like a necessary setup to cover some bases and set the franchise for a future rather than an entertaining film presented in an in-world believable way for a teen and adult audience.

Also, in sheer running time, BP is not that appropriate for theater viewing with kids.

The movie {sw} wasn't perfect but I don't think it was bad, either.

By no means a Frozen but I think considerably better than Frozen 2.

I mean, my opinion is just my opinion but for a kids animated movie, I don't get the negative reviews - especially compared to the competition for kid's animated theatrical releases this year and we have seen all of them so I'm not just saying that in a hand-waving manner.
 
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Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
Personally, I thought the story made more sense than Wakanda Forever.

Not to hate on Black Panter 2 - that movie had an impossible task - but it felt more like a necessary setup to cover some bases and set the franchise for a future rather than an entertaining film presented in an in-world believable way for a teen and adult audience.

The movie wasn't perfect but I don't think it was bad, either.

By no means a Frozen but I think considerably better than Frozen 2.

I mean, my opinion is just my opinion but for a kids animated movie, I don't get the negative reviews - especially compared to the competition for kid's animated theatrical releases this year and we have seen all of them so I'm not just saying that in a hand-waving manner.
I haven't seen the film, but honestly also surprised and puzzled by the CinemaScore apparently being the lowest for any Disney animated film... ever. The critics' reviews don't suggest that should be the case, nor does anything anyone has said on here. Are people really showing up and getting annoyed about the inclusion of same sex attraction in the film (as the RottenTomatoes comments/reviews suggest), or is there some reason this film really isn't connecting with people?
 

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
I’m a little surprised at how many in this chat seem to think that those scenes won’t have any bearing on reviews or numbers. The movie doesn’t sound like it’s any worse than some of their recent bad movies.
 

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
I’m a little surprised at how many in this chat seem to think that those scenes won’t have any bearing on reviews or numbers. The movie doesn’t sound like it’s any worse than some of their recent bad movies.
To me it's more an open question. I don't think the same-sex kiss in Lightyear particularly affected how people who went to see it enjoyed the film. Is it that this time around people didn't know?
 

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
To me it's more an open question. I don't think the same-sex kiss in Lightyear particularly affected how people who went to see it enjoyed the film. Is it that this time around people didn't know?

I get it. My post wasn’t directed at you although you did inspire it. I think we can’t dismiss the fact that these movies were back to back. Big miss on Disneys part. What happens when you have 1/2 the country thinking you have an agenda and include those scenes in back to back animated PG films? Now you “definitely” have an agenda and have created a new identity for yourself. The consumer thinks “oh ok that wasn’t just a one off or every once in a while type thing. This is the new Disney.”

Or maybe it wasn’t a mistake. Maybe they knew exactly what they were doing.
 

MrPromey

Well-Known Member
I haven't seen the film, but honestly also surprised and puzzled by the CinemaScore apparently being the lowest for any Disney animated film... ever. The critics' reviews don't suggest that should be the case, nor does anything anyone has said on here. Are people really showing up and getting annoyed about the inclusion of same sex attraction in the film (as the RottenTomatoes comments/reviews suggest), or is there some reason this film really isn't connecting with people?

Well, there is also an interracial relationship that is a lot more hands-on both figuratively and literally.

I'm sure if you were to make a Venn diagram of people unhappy about those two things, instead of two overlapping circles, it would look a lot like a single circle.

There is a weird moment where the teen kid, in talking to his grandfather, talks about his grandfather's idea of how to impress a love interest as "kind of toxic" which felt heavy-handed in the world of zoomer buzzwords to toss in there. He's not wrong in the sentiment but it's odd that they chose that word to use in this movie that is otherwise pretty free of politically charged slang. I winced a little when he said it because my thought was "is he about to call gramps a boomer now?" but that's as far as it went.

Regarding him, there is the weird thing that of the three main characters representing three different generations, it is only the teen that apparently doesn't need to deal with personal growth or maturity, even though his rash actions more than once, are what creates half the drama - stowing away on the ship to begin with, going off on his own, having no idea what he's doing to "rescue" his dad, ending up in need of rescue himself as a result and then storming off on his own when mad at his dad at one point into a "strange world" where everything seems out to kill everyone - all really dumb moves and they never suggest at any point that he learns anything about his own behavior from any of this.

Both dad and grandad learn stuff and grow from their experience and they learn something from the teenager about being better humans but somehow, the teen appears to learn nothing - just gains confidence in who he already is which... felt a little one-sided but I say that as a guy around the age of the dad so maybe that's just sour grapes on my part. ;)

I know it sounds like that was a major issue for me but it really wasn't. I just point it out because it was the one thing that stood out for me, personally.

Don't get me wrong - I didn't not find this to be a remarkable movie. Some people appear (in my opinion) to be gushing in praise for it in a way that I don't feel the finished product quite deserves but it seems like people with personal reasons for wanting it to succeed yelling back at the crowd eager to see it fail for their own personally reasons and I get it.

The funny (but not ha-ha funny) is this movie could have had so many cool toys.

They would have been much cooler than the big-headed mini-figures currently in happy meal boxes, for sure.
 
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MrPromey

Well-Known Member
Except that sexuality and gender identity have very little to do with one a other and the decision to lump them into a single "movement" is harmful to everyone involved.

The gay and lesbian community with have a much easier time finding acceptance in middle America of they hadn't linked their fortunes to the acceptance of genderf--- and skoliosexual.

For what it's worth, I have some very close friends who are gay and they've informed me that they never received their mail in ballots for the vote to combine any of these movements.

As one put it to me, there was a RuPaul's Drag Race marathon the night of the official vote and he feels like that was just one part of a larger disenfranchisement campaign.*


*To be clear, I'm not making that up - there really was such a conversation but he was speaking with sarcasm to make the point that there really is no such thing as the monolithic "gay community" you hear pundits talk about or people pretending to speak for and that especially, generationally, things can be seen very differently, possibly more so than in the hetero "community" due to the amount of change that's happened over the last 30-40 years. Felt the need to clarify since I know, in politically charged topics, people tend to search out things to attack or take offense from.
 
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TP2000

Well-Known Member
I feel bad for people who have nothing better to do on Thanksgiving weekend except gloat and do happy dances because a movie they don’t like and have no intention of ever seeing got low box office results.

What else would we do in our free time? 😁

I already did the Black Friday run yesterday with friends at a few Big Box stores. Where I was reminded...

The price of giant 4K TV sets at Best Buy is so ridiculously low now, no wonder Americans were happy to be trained by Bob Chapek to stay home and wait for it on Disney+ for 8 bucks whenever Burbank releases animation from Pixar or Disney! What a boneheaded decision that turned out to be, and I'm convinced (with no evidence, just my gut) that it's a big part of what led to his sudden firing and current corporate turmoil and money problems.

Now I'm sitting here waiting for the car to be washed before I head out to dinner tonight. So I have time to pull up the official numbers for Friday. It's ugly. Strange World has gone from a modest expectation of $30 to $40 Million this weekend, to a lowered estimate of $26 Million after the first day, to now hoping against hope to simply break the $20 Million mark for this five day holiday weekend we all enjoy.

What's interesting is that the minor Christian film The Chosen has made more money than Strange World in five more days of showings, and is only showing in 179 theaters but is making over $3,400 per theater. Strange World is in a whopping 4,700 theaters, but is pulling in less than a third of that per theater.

It's gonna be ugly in Burbank on Monday morning when some studio execs slink back to work, I can tell you that.

StrangeTrends.jpg
 

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